Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-19
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The graph below gives information about the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US, 1960-2020
Student answer (Band 5.5)
The line graph tracks number of jobs in manufacturing, retail, agriculture, and healthcare sectors of the conomy in the United States between 1960 to 2020.
Overall, manufacturing sector started strong and dominated most of the years, whereas others started low, but retail and healthcare caught up with manufacturing. In contrast, Healthcare, didn't show any specific improvement.
In 1960, jobs in manufacturing were the highest, with 15 million. It increased smoothly till 1980 reaching 20 million, but after 1980 the fall of manufacturing sector started. In 2000, it was still higher than 1960 with about 16.5 million jobs, however, the fall kept going and fell below 15 million. On the other hand, agriculture sector had a bad start with only around 6 million jobs, but the number of jobs never rose. It fell down to someware areound 4 million in 1980. From 1980 to 2000, there are no change in number of jobs, however the downfall contineous and reached 2.5 million in 2020.
Retail and healthcare started with 6 million and 2.5 million respectively. From 1960 to 2000 both showed a parallel growth, where retail reached at 15 million and healthcare at around 12 million. By 2020, both sectore were at same position with 16 million jobs each.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student covers all four sectors and provides a general overview, though there are factual inaccuracies regarding the trends described. Specifically, the student states that agriculture 'never rose' (which is accurate, but then claims 'somewhere around 4 million in 1980' when the graph starts at 6 million and falls) and incorrectly claims that 'Healthcare, didn't show any specific improvement' despite it experiencing the most dramatic growth from 2 million to 16 million. Furthermore, manufacturing in 2000 is misread as 16.5 million rather than 17 million, and agriculture from 1980 to 2000 is described as having 'no change' when it actually remained steady at 3 million. Despite these data interpretation errors, all parts of the prompt are addressed and comparisons are made.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is structured into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different sectors. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'In contrast', 'In 1960', and 'On the other hand' are employed to guide the reader through the data. However, referencing and logical progression are occasionally flawed, particularly in the contradictory statements about healthcare and the abrupt transitions between sentences within the body paragraphs. Overall arrangement is coherent, but mechanical errors in cohesion limit the score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, attempting appropriate domain-specific terms such as 'manufacturing', 'retail', 'agriculture', and 'healthcare'. Less common phrasing is attempted with phrases like 'parallel growth' and 'dominated most of the years'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('conomy', 'someware', 'areound', 'contineous', 'sectore') and occasional awkward word choices ('bad start', 'fell down'). These lexical errors occasionally distract the reader, placing the response firmly in the band 6 category.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'While manufacturing sector started strong...' and 'From 1960 to 2000 both showed a parallel growth...'. There are several grammatical errors and omissions, such as missing articles ('tracks number of jobs', 'agriculture sector', 'retail and healthcare started') and tense inconsistencies ('there are no change'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors are present, they rarely impede overall communication, supporting a solid band 6 performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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